


Farewell, Sunshine

by CastelloFlare



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, TWD Season 5 Mid-season Finale, stop right there and skip this entry if you haven't watched yet bc there be spoilers ahead man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 17:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2701115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastelloFlare/pseuds/CastelloFlare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And he carried her in his arms, the same way he did when she had injured her foot, back in that house where they were once happy, just the two of them; a mismatched pair of lost survivors in this dead world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Farewell, Sunshine

Daryl sank to his knees, and took Beth into his trembling arms. A cry, coming from somewhere deep and dark, escaped his lips, as he rocked himself over and over. He could hear Rick’s voice as if from a distance, his hand over his shoulder as he wept; everyone’s eyes on them but he felt unattached to all of this, and attached only to this fragile body cradled in his arms. His lips, where it touched Beth’s hair, caught the taste of metal – blood still gushed out of the exposed wound, as the life ebbed away from the anchor that tied Daryl down into this world. Beth was gone.

And he carried her in his arms, the same way he did when she had injured her foot, back in that house where they were once happy, just the two of them; a mismatched pair of lost survivors in this dead world.

But it wasn’t the same anymore.

His skin where it touched hers felt the cold spreading within her limp and lifeless body. Her smell, which he’d become so accustomed to when they were together, which he kept trying to find when they weren’t – it was replaced by the smell of blood and hospital wards and no sunshine. The light was gone. He was back in that tunnel again, but Beth wasn’t there to bring him back anymore.

“You’re gonna miss me so bad when I’m gone, Daryl Dixon.”

Her words rang true in his memories; but she was half wrong because nothing could describe just how Daryl knew he was going to miss her. He was a brave soul, afraid of nothing and no one except probably his brother, but the night Beth had told him this, it had sent a cold shiver down his spine. He never liked the thought of it; of being the last man standing, of seeing one of their own dying, and he had made up his mind to never let anything happen to Beth.

Daryl didn’t have to say anything. Rick stepped aside, and the others fell into sequence, heads down and sobbing for their loss; of a fellow-survivor, of a friend, of a singing voice that had carried them through even the toughest of times, their beacon of joy and hope.

“When you look at me, you only see another dead girl.”

No. Beth was more than just a weak farmer's daughter who couldn't defend herself and relied on others to survive. Daryl knew that much. He knew how much courage and strength lies within in that petite form, because she had carried him through his worst. She was that thread of hope he was hanging on to.

Beth kept him alive. She doesn’t know it, and he did not dare say it, but she did. 

And he wished he had done more than just grunt and glare at her during their first few days together; he wished that he had the guts to tell her it was her who made him change his mind about people; he wished that he had not let her out of his sight that night; he wished that she was just sleeping, and he would watch over her until she wakes up, watch her eyelashes flutter and reveal her baby blue eyes.

He wished she was not dead.

But she was gone, and a piece of Daryl went with her.

 

RIP, Beth Greene.

**Author's Note:**

> I was crying and all this shit just came pouring out.  
> Goodbye, Beth Greene. I was looking forward to seeing you kick more ass in the following seasons. It was a pity your flame got snuffed out pretty early.  
> You will be missed.


End file.
